It sorta feels like we're creating this hierarchy where the tech elite can get a nice clean OS with their privacy protected and without spyware/junkware/adware/etc., whereas the unwashed masses have a choice between 1) paying obscene prices for a FruitPhone or 2) getting ads/spyware blasted in their face 24/7.

Using a open-source social network like Mastodon changed my mind completely about how they should be build and why they should exist. They need to be about making connections and cherishing communities, and this is not possible when you are trying to monetize everything at all costs.

Mastodon has a lot of problems, of course, and we still need to figure them out. But it's really nice to know there's a way to escape (and maybe even change) the status quo.